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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 27, 1983)
-r-, : Page 6B/The Battalion/Thursday, October 27,1983 Nighclubs battle for student customers by Jaime Bramer Battalion Reporter College Station nightclubs that cater to Texas A&M stu dents are at war. To win the battle, they must survive in an isolated market place and beat the competition through strategic advertising. The goal of all their promotion al ads is, naturally, to lure pat rons away from their competi tors. In past years, local bars have used some bizarre gimmicks to get customers — naughty nighty contests, best tan contests, male strippers, and air kissing. Unfortunately, these types of promotion didn’t attract enough customers, and consequently, many of the student-supported clubs failed. Three local nightclubs — Park Avenue, Roxy, and Electric Cowboy — have undergone The Varsity Shop 301 Patricia 846-7401 NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY MONDAY THRU SATURDAY HAIRCUT SPECIAL MEN & WOMEN $8.50 University Dr. Northgate Patricia St. Thi Campus Theater The Varsity •< Shop § :PERM special; $10.00 OFF ^ coupon OFFFER GOOD THRU 11/2/83 many changes in recent years to stay alive. The managers of the three all believe that succeeding in the college market is very complex. Success depends on more than promotional gimmicks, contests, and give-aways. Indi- vidualpty and image also play a key role. Park Avenue Manager John DeSpain says the reason the pre vious club, Lipstick, failed is be cause it was a fad, and punk music was fading. “Students get tired of gim micks,” he says. “Their tastes in music change quickly.” Lipstick had a short life of only seven months and now has been reborn as Park Avenue. DeSpain says that so far they’re doing well. “We’ve cut naughty nighty- type schemes,” he says. “They don’t fit the mood of Park Ave nue. We think of it as one of College Station’s nicer clubs where you don’t need a megaphone to order a drink." He also takes the fire code se riously. “We believe in treating our customers like people, not cat tle,” he says. DeSpain says that nightclub promotion is a guessing game. “I gear most of the promo tion at the weekend,” he says, “with 60-70 percent (of ads) run ning Friday and Saturday on local radio stations.” Football games, concerts, and exams affect the advertising 1:1 fu “When you serve good, drinks, you don’t have to give them away,” — Mark Alfieri, co manager of Zephyr. I 1 1 J United used. All special promotions are released as aete as possible so they can’t be topped by another club. A promotional brain-storm of DeSpain’s was the “late night” concept. He says staying open until 4 a.m. on weekends has its advantages. Because liquor isn’t sold after one, people have a 1 )lace to sober up before driving lome. “The people trickle out slow er now,” DeSpain says, “result ing in less congestion in the parking lot and fewer acci dents.” , He says Park Avenue doesn’t have any competition now — none of the other clubs have a comparable style. However, the Roxy at Post Oak Mall is competing. Manager Steve Graham has picked up on Park Avenue’s late night idea and now stays open until four. They also are using a legs contest on Wednesday nights. Other promotional gimmicks include ladies night, open bar, and hap py hours. Roxy does 75 percent of their advertising on radio and soon will lie dropping the local station for Houston stations. Graham believes more students will hear their ads on the more popular Houston stations. The Roxy has an image of its own — hi-tech rock ’n’ roll. “We have a better sound sys tem, more room, and have spent ey on ngi clubs spend on their whole set up,” Graham says. Graham also manages Elec tric Gowboy. The club is closed for remodeling now, and Gra ham is keeping the new club’s identity a secret. He says the club closed, because after five years, a change was needed. Promotional advertising is essential to the success of a club. However, the Zephyr Club is an exception. Managed by two college stu dents, Texas A&M seniors Mark Alfieri and Gregg Kronenber- ger, the bar has experienced enormous success. “We’ve just about replaced die Dixie Chicken as lit H K day night hang-out,”i| | says. Zephyr isn’t t otional advertising, in their image. The two managertliMl^™ Q , keting majors, tookoverftiljfOl Bar and Grill and turnedij typical college bar. "Zephyr is a gathering he says. "We don't t advertise because we ^ crowds anyway. Peopletim| socialize and see their(nt "We hire people ftmjf football, and baseball,'» says. "Everyone has alii 1 working at Zephyr.” Alfieri says the relaxsihyASH IN tude of the employees a:;;-L&n, seek agers is recognized by iit|ijB r y force tomers. . ordered a “We’re guys having k j t 0 f a belie! Mlieti ol liimselfandin^Bost.iot^ liergei < c ipeated." lain having InciHhrunrjBigaii, in place.” ht speeches He boasts thatZepivt jphc invasi. Ik-si (h ink'.iihI largeststfeB.iiul th< of lii|uor in town. pops in Lei “When you servtjects his ch drinks, you don’t have ; <)V iet advent them aw.tv " he says. Hie even The two recently ilja, though patio to the barandaretblated.” Rea of addin- (oscow assis According to Alfieri.ihdq^Bce in l>< ( lub i' hcuinung wdl-t^ldirect around the state, inDaliHol sum Austin, as the placetogoi Reagan n lege Station. Hthan 2i “I think Zep lied Sunda for a lone iiiih. " hesayt Hitm. a Overtime doesn't meat effectiveness in work i m United Preat International NEW YORK — Extra hours put in by ambitious executives may be counterproductive to their careers, says Jean Grass© Fitzpatrick. In an article in the October issue of Working Woman maga zine, Fitzpatrick cites an IBM study of 2,443 managers that found no correlation between effectiveness ratings and the amount of time worked. The researchers lauded qual ity time over quantity time, she said. Many experts feel regular overtime is almost a sutt^ of runaway ineffidency,ilii cle says. One source is guoiit saying if an employteiisu late regularly, “1 susptet been diddling arounaal The source acids ifsthctfi person who gets thejobi What the author dli fe control overtime’' indicate the individual is not mai his or her workload or i cumbing to pressure fra periors who believeu hours. vq iis( by B WJ flu requei Kb-a ,38-ac pftered tc ting Board ly meeting The boar planning (pit.; . hursd; e land jjf to tl he, W hancel nd cot p MASKS-face PAINTS COJ.O0ED MAI6$W W i COSTDff\ft»GLA# & caops-spiki?^ 1* Guxreg tfAiie*ww f PPft) UJI6S* HATS' W fiSHUCT H6S£ £ CitLASHeS- OAfcrKftS- /ODNSTCfc HANDS jVj’r-Ttr W M7V W* ' ©7 Vs 1*■ V T-I-I for II' gutte# makeup* cigarette hoik 3T)5 E. Z97SX, 8W fining Khe Facu le possible Serving Xei nption Luncheon Biifffit Se ' U11 y Sandwich and Hn ^y. 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